There are known devices which enable handicapped persons to walk. One of those devices is described in Polish Patent No 176092, in which the device consists of two parallel, flat, quadric mechanisms, situated symmetrically in relation to the vertical axis of the user, and where the axis of rotation of the vertical support bar linkage of each flat quadric mechanism corresponds with the hip joints of the user. The device also includes two special quadric mechanisms where both pairs of quadric mechanisms are interconnected by an intermediate member common to both pairs. The four linkages of the spatial quadric mechanism have their axis of rotation traversing the center of the respective hip joint of the user.
There is also known another device for aiding walking, described in Polish Pending Patent No. P-319821 consisting of an active, elliptical jacket, fixed to a mechanism to change the direction of walk. The device is open in its rear part and equipped with a locking device, and has two vertical members for forward motion. The device is equipped with two fixed cylindrical clamping rings for a user's thighs, which are open in their rear. The lower portions of the vertical members are equipped with platforms for the user's feet, to which there are rigidly fixed shoe skids, touching the floor to be walked on.
There is yet another known device for enabling persons with paresis of legs to walk, described in Polish Pending Patent No P-337403, consisting of two vertical elements, at either side of a jacket, and being twice bent inwards at their lower portions with two horizontal sections, and being attached by a pivot joint to triangle connections at upper portions. The triangle connections are pivotally fixed with their sides to respective sides of the jacket frame, while the horizontal sections are equipped with skids. Semi-circularly, bent outwards supports, are fixed to the skids where the diameter of the semi-circular supports are 1.5 to 2.5 times greater than length of horizontal sections of the bent parts of the vertical elements. The jacket frame in its forward part is pivotally fixed a triangle lever. The lever has bars with mounted flexible connectors. The bars are fixed at their other end to pivot elements consisting of a support for a person's back, where to the lower ends of the vertical elements within their pivot mounting with the skids, there are mounted Bowden cables, one at either side. Additionally, telescopic connectors interconnect the skids, in the vicinity of the semicircular supports.
The inconvenience of the prior devices consists of a lack of the possibility of adjusting the height of device's vertical elements to a users height, as well as lack of possibility of adjusting the size of the jacket to the user's corpulence.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,139 to Davis discloses a device enabling a handicapped person to move, which consists of the combination of a frame including a pair of lateral supports in spaced, parallel arrangement and a pair of large drive wheels which are rotatably secured at the rear ends of the lateral supports and a pair of castor wheels secured at the front ends of the lateral supports. A user support structure or a prone board comprising a pair of elongated rails, spanned at one end of by a chest pad, is pivotally secured to the lateral supports for pivoting between at least an upright or vertical position and a prone or horizontal position. With this device a handicapped person has the possibility of adjusting the user's structure to a patient's height and corpulence. When moving, the patient stands within the device and moves by means of the device's large wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,796 to MacCready discloses an apparatus to assist human walking. The apparatus incorporates, in combination, first and second longitudinally extending strut members that are relatively movable, longitudinally, and adapted to transmit body associated loading. The first strut member or members are operatively connected to a rack and/or to the users body. The second strut member or members are slaved, i.e., operatively connected to the user's foot or feet, ankles or shoes to move therewith. The device provides the possibility of a user to adapt its structure to the height and corpulence of the user, but is not able to be employed by a patient with total immobility of legs, as the device requires the upwards and downwards movements of patient's feet in order to walk, i.e., the device requires the ability of a patient's treading.